Sitting in a meeting of the International Resource Panel, in Davos, Switzerland. I’ve been a member of this amazing expert panel since 2007. The Co-Chairs are now Janus Potocnik and Ashok Khosla. The recent adoption of the SDGs is regarded by many here as a game changer, making 2015 a turning point. How we manage resources is seen as affecting directly 12 of the 17 SDGs. While there is a lot the SDGs leave out, they are global goals that – unlike the MDGs – are applicable to everyone. What is interesting is that for the first time in this group, there is a strong belief that we need not only be in the business of documenting the unsustainability of the current global economy, but also transition pathways that can lead more sustainable modes of production and consumption. This is what I argued for recently in book chapter, and is well discussed in the new book by Scoones, Leach and Newell entitled The Politics of Green Transforamtions published by Routledge Earthscan. Just completed a journal article called Developmental States and Sustainability Transitions: Prospects for a Just Transition in South Africa where I try find a meeting point between the developmental state literature and the sustainability transition literature. This is now essential in an SDG world, but has not really been tackled in a substantial way. I argue that South Africa’s renewable energy revolution is a key example of what is possible.
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Hi Prof Mark Swilling. I am multi-tasking. One ear, listening to your RE vs Eskom post and this post. Other ear, listening to ANC NGC Resolutions under way.
Its sad. I am convinced our activism on “new knowledge” around Sustainable Development, (and role of Developmental State) is still at a 2005 level. Brains have deserted this movement.
Miss the 93/97 Brains Revolution.